London & Paris Travel

For tickets or transit passes for getting around Paris, it depends on which days you will be there. If you are taking a lot of Metros and buses, a Pass Navigo Decouverte can be a good deal. However, it's only good Monday through Sunday. Details here: http://tinyurl.com/5t2zqc If this doesn't work with your days, the best deal will be a carnet (pronounced car-NAY). This is 10 tickets bought together, for a substantial discount over single tickets. These are splittable, so just buy two to start, and then buy more for your group when you run low. If you plan to see a lot of museums, a 4 day Paris Museum Pass for €54 per person may be a good deal (€13.50 per day). On the other hand, it may not, if you're not seeing a lot of covered places. It does let you skip the line, which is handy at a few very busy places, and it is good for Versailles (so you are definitely going to one covered site, and an expensive one too). Your 15 year old will get in free at many places (bring along the passport for proof, just in case). Here's the official website showing what's covered: http://tinyurl.com/24zbf8m For Versailles, you buy RER tickets to Versailles Rive Gauche stop on Line C (these are also good for any Metro connections you need to make to get to Line C). If you have Museum Passes, you're set for tickets. If you aren't getting them, get advance tickets from the official Versailles website, or risk hours of waiting in line: http://tinyurl.com/cq72mqo. Others have posted that parts of this site aren't translated into English; if that's the case and it asks for your country, the United States is Etats-Unis.

As you can see from the Paris transit question, the answers can depend on days of the week. And some discounts will require advance purchase, and you may be too early or too late for this. So, if you can post exact dates you will be in each place, you will get more helpful replies.

hi, theres an old saying. dont make it more difficult than it is. i would p/u RS book on Paris and London and do some reading. It will alleviate alot of your questions and worries. the books will answer more or less all of your questions. When i first started to travel, i got his books and just started reading. he does 90% of the work for you so all you have to do is follow his footsteps. But there is a catch. The world changes and therefor things in his book can be out of date. the good thing is that you should have an idea on what you need to do to make it happen. Travel in both citys is a piece of cake. I have never been here before,but on my first day i was using the tube systems and LOVING IT! I wish we had them here. I always had a map of where i was going so i could plan my travel. sometimes i would walk too. In london i bought an Oyster Card (you can google it) and in Paris i used the Carnet as mentioned above. Again, RS books covers ALL of this. But since i travel SOLO, there maybe better/cheaper options for a family. I didnt buy a pass in London since it did pencil out. Paris is a different story. What you need to do is to figure out what you want to do/see and then see if you cost warrents a pass. To get from London to Paris, i took the TGV Bullet train and it rocks! 2h20m and youre there. comfortable, fast, clean and coooool!. Europe has a train system that puts ours to shame. I love using it no matter where i go. happy trails.

The train that will get you from London to Paris is the Eurostar. You can take the Tube (subway) or buses within London. You can take the metro (subway), bus or batobus (boat bus) to get around Paris. You can take the RER train to get to Versailles. As mentioned, picking up the Rick Steves London and Paris books will answer all these questions and more, and will keep you from being so overwhelmed. An informed traveler is a happy traveler. I assume you are flying into London and home from Paris?